God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 302: Grasping at Realization.

Activating the flame enchantment of the {Burning Spirit} was like rolling a die.

Rolling a six meant using the insane boost to murder the enemy. Rolling a one meant certain death. If the enemy managed to get even a single good hit in, it was as good as over. A ninety percent decrease in defense wasn't something small. Rather, it was a wide chasm. And falling into that chasm meant never rising again.

Hence, he needed to make sure there was no room for a counterattack, or even for simple breathing. He had to utterly demolish his enemy.

And as such, with a roar filled with emotions, he smashed his fists forward. The four-headed {Chaos Troll} there a jab at him as well. Their fists collided, and a shockwave made the bedrock tremble violently.

However, this was just the start...

Retracting his most, Cain didn't even wait for the second to elapse as he threw another with his left hand.

Again, it was blocked. This time, the creature visibly shook. Cain threw a right hook this time, and the troll brought its large arm up to block. Without wasting a breath, Cain kicked forward like a whip.

Midair, his other leg snapped forward, smashing the creature's guard arm in. The creature let out a muffled groan as it slid backward.

Cain didn't let up as he followed behind. His hands picked up the wind as he continued raining down blows and kicked. Sidestepping a blow, he clenched his knuckles and smashed them into the {Chaos Troll's} inner elbows.

The creature let out a yelp of pain but that wasn't going to make Cain stop. With blinding speed, his hands flashed forward. He turned into a blur as his hands became faster and faster.

The {Chaos Troll} was no longer able to keep up. Dodging an uppercut, Cain moved closer to the creature, and with all the strength he could muster, smashed his leg into the creature's left knee.

A sickening crunch brought the monster to its knees. Cain proceeded to use his fists once more, delivering jabs, hooks, and hard blows to the disgruntled monster.

"Ragh!"

The creature let out an enraged roar as blood flowed from between its broken teeth.

Dense Ki exploded out of its body. It's just slammed toward Cain's face, forcing him to take a few steps back.

The aura of the creature continued to rise until it reached dangerous levels...

It had also decided to give its all...

This man and beast continued their deadly clash. Blood, bones, and sweat flew. They moved so fast, that the air around them began to burn. Sparks and traces of flames began showing wherever their afterimages were left.

'What a euphoric feeling...'

Embroiled in this feeling, Cain's mind drifted away. It was as though his soul decided to leave his body and observe everything objectively.

His eyes were truly opened. All this time, {Eye of Clairvoyance} had been kept open. He could see the energy fluctuations around him. His body, his movements. His opponent's body, his opponent's movements... He could see it all.

As such, he was able to be one step ahead of his enemy. He was able to partially predict what his opponent was going to do next based on his reactions and the way the energy around the {Chaos Troll} behaved.

'Fascinating...'

He had never used the {Eye of Clairvoyance} in such a way before. His left eye turned pale white, including a real feat into the heart of the four-headed {Chaos Troll}.

Cain saw this as an opportunity to beat it within an inch of its life. He didn't even spare a moment of rest as he clenched his fists even tighter.

'Why?'

Cain's heart was tranquil as he kept fighting, his knuckles becoming more and more bloodied.

'Why am I here?'

Cain delivered a spinning kick, causing the {Chaos Troll} to fly several meters.

Pulling {Maelstrom} from his inventory, he gored an arrow at its chest. Before the arrow could complete its flight, he was already running again, bringing a first down as the creature attempted to dodge the arrow.

'What is my purpose?'

He had been lost for so long, but he could finally see it. As twisted as it sounded, he felt as though he could find himself in the midst of battle. Like his history, his past, present, and future had been written in blood.

It was unsettling to find this out, but he had no liberty to think about it too much...

'If I am doomed to fight all my life, then I might as well do it properly...'

With this thought in mind, a deep, thick growl escaped from his throat...

Since he had gathered some Ki, he poured all he had gathered into his fist, and with impeccable timing, he let the crimson-coated won't fly.

The cave corridor rumbled as rocks fell from the veiling due to the impact of the shockwaves.

Despite the beating it was taking, the four-headed {Chaos Troll} still wasn't dead. It was almost dead, but it hadn't crossed the pine yet.

It had only reached the state Cain had been in previously. However, with the lightless eyes it had, it might as well have been.

Still, it managed to keep standing...

All these things made no difference to Cain. He had to kill this thing and get back to Evangeline so they could take down the Chaos chief and retrieve the heart of the third primordial devil.

He smashed an elbow into the creature's solar plexus. The body of the {Chaos Troll} flew like a broken ragdoll for several meters until its large frame was smashed into the cavern walls.

Cain followed up with another blow that made the crater it had formed on the wall even deeper.

Then the blows kept coming...

At first, they were fast. Then his hands turned into blurs. Suddenly he left after images behind as his hands were thrown forward. Blood splattered everywhere as each blow connected.

Soon enough, the air around his fists began to ignite...

His body became accustomed to the feeling of his flesh and bones rhythmically striking another's.

"Ahh!"

He yelled, his mind fully devoured by thoughts he couldn't control. The {Chaos Troll} tried controlling the ground beneath them, but Cain was quicker. With a snap of his fingers, he small seal was created in his palm.

The {Intermediate Seal} was activated, and the {Chaos Troll} was shocked to realize its skills couldn't activate.

***

{Intermedaite Seal}: Forcibly restrict the flow of energy within a certain range for two seconds. This skill doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, and any skill or spell, apart from ones activated by the host, will be nullified. Skills or spells already active will be deactivated as well. This skill will only work on skills that are not of the first Tier and above.

Cost: 600MP per activation

Cooldown: 15 minutes.

***

Golden chains emerged from the wall, attaching themselves to the limbs of the four-headed {Chaos Trolls}.

Unable to move and unable to activate any of its skills, the {Chaos Troll} realized it was doomed. The power of the {Intermediate Seal} only allowed for the destruction of energy, and not complete freezing. But because of the inert terrible energy control of the Chaos creatures, the skill worked graciously against it.

Although two seconds didn't seem like a lot, in their battle, two seconds was the difference between victor and vanquished.

Cain took a horse stance, his hands brimming with energy. He could feel the power churning within him. That was his Ki. It was forcibly flowing into the wounds on his body, trying its best to heal him as it regenerated.

But that wasn't what he wanted. His eyes bulged out as he called upon the energy within him.

'Flow back...'

The Ki plundered by the {Dragon's Gate Ki Plundering Technique} was incredibly violent and volatile. As such, it simply refused to heed Cain's command. The {Draconic Transfiguration} skill made it so that the Ki would be forcibly transferred to parts of his body that experienced trauma, healing it, but also gradually changing it over time.

This was good in the long run, but what Cain needed now was maximum damage. His body could break down along the way, but he didn't care. What he did care about was making sure the four-headed {Chaos Troll} died.

Trying to overpower the {Draconic Transfiguration} skill was like trying to push against a freight train. And so, he didn't push. Rather, he began rearranging the tracks.

The energy in his body flowed through the veins gifted to him by the Primordial Devil of Death. With the subtle link he felt to the veins, he willed them to direct a portion of the rapidly regenerating Ki in another direction.

Almost immediately, his face squeezed up in pain as his insides began tearing up. Ignoring the agony, he watched as the dense Ki flowed according to his commands. He had forcibly used the control he had over the {Nirvanic Circle} to redirect a portion of his Ki.

Because the flow went against the normal flow in his body, the stream of energy began to experience what can only be explained as Ki friction.

'I can feel something...' Cain thought to himself as he grasped for the moment of realization.

Just before he could reach it, he discovered that his fists had stopped making contact with flesh and bones, and were now striking against the hard cave wall.

Looking up, he discovered that the four-headed {Chaos Troll} had been reduced to a puddle of tenderized meat, lying limp at his feet.

{Congratulations to host... You have slain a four-headed Chaos Troll...}

{+10 to Strength}.

{+5 to Agility}.